


Backbone, Spine

by apartment



Category: Shadowhunters (TV)
Genre: Gen, Post-Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-12
Updated: 2019-05-12
Packaged: 2020-03-01 09:11:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18797344
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/apartment/pseuds/apartment
Summary: Alec stops by Maryse's bookstore.She was family. He’d known what that meant in one way before, with Isabelle and Jace and Max, then the world had unfolded, and he’d found it in a thousand more: Magnus, Clary, Madzie, and now her.





	Backbone, Spine

**Author's Note:**

> happy mother's day

Alec had heard the tales, and they weren’t pleasant. He knew the things Maryse had done, his father, the people around them--Nephilim who were born and bred into hatred, then twisted even further. Valentine. Maryse had been one of his best strategists, had believed so strongly, the way she always did even now, in a cause that left their world bruised and beaten and suspicious. 

People still looked at him sometimes, whispered how the Lightwoods went bad, had dark blood, all of them. They were hypocrites; no one in Alicante had clean hands. But that didn’t make the gossip easier to bare. Maybe it was true anyway: Isabelle’s stubborn circumvention of the rules, Max’s recklessness and trouble-making, no matter how young, Alec stepping down from the altar and chasing the only one who mattered at that moment. They’ve always been hot-headed fools, the lot of them, Jace included, running amok with a drive to battle on their own terms, growing up enabling every rebellious instinct they had. 

No wonder their mother was off on her own, far away from them, he used to think. He hadn’t known then why she was always in Alicante, hadn’t seen the tight leash the Clave had her on. But he knew now. He had tasted the stories on his own tongue, dirt and sand when he told Isabelle. 

Since then, she had changed so much. Everyday offered a new glimpse into her as a person, which was somehow something distinct from her as a mother, a diplomat, a commanding officer. He called her Mom now, but almost didn’t recognize the person in front of him. He hadn’t realized how much of her steel tightness, ice, glaring ferocity had been tied to her identity as Shadowhunter. He wondered if he’d eventually find himself the same way. Maybe at Death’s door, he’d figure that everything he’d done had been for a lie the Clave planted early, a poison in the blood of angels. Magnus was probably right, as was often the case. 

Maybe Clary was a good thing, for all the destruction that followed in her wake. Maryse had her bookstore now, and she smiled easier than Alec ever remembered. He loved seeing her happy. It made her glow, like she still had her runes, a reminder of her angelic blood. Maybe most surprising still was that she was happy for him. 

He used to stare at the ceiling at night, fidgeting restlessly with his stele, thinking about how even if his parents accepted him, even if he found someone he loved, who loved him, even if the Clave allowed it, Maryse would still have to tell people. And they’d be able to tell how difficult it was for her to admit her son was gay, and they’d cluck amongst themselves, “That poor Lightwood family, those poor parents. It’s probably because of the Circle, you know,” but just loud enough that Alec would be able to hear it. That had always been the best case scenario to him, because there was no way it could be better than that. Some things would never change.

But she didn’t have to surreptitiously, ashamedly inform anyone about it now. Of course, she would in a heartbeat if she needed to. He trusted that. But everyone knew about him and Magnus. Every last one of Alec’s nightmares had come and gone and passed, and things he’d only dreamed of had been left behind: tolerance, acceptance, even, and more miraculously, support. 

Magnus’ hand had been warm when they’d walked down the aisle, the morning sun and the way mundanes viewed it as magic. Alec was flooded with joy, filled to the brim with it, so full he could explode outwards. It had been months now, but he already knew he’d remember that feeling for the rest of his life. 

He’d always loved fully, but with Magnus it was different, and more. He wanted everything with Magnus, and believed in them, and the chance that they’d get it. It was more faith than he’d had in anything, and he couldn’t wait to see it all the way through. This was it: the real thing, his. 

So now he was wading through pedestrians on the streets of Brooklyn, cracked sidewalk under his feet. He knew the way to the bookstore by heart, like a homing beacon. The last time he’d come with such purpose, it had been to ask for the family ring, months and war- and peacetime ago. It was cold outside, but Alec felt warm from the inside out. His nose was probably red; Maryse would pester him about it.  

They had never had an easy relationship, but he knew she loved him, especially for things like that. She’d left the Circle for him, to protect her family. His blood used to scare him, taunting him at the late hours of the night, like a crawling wrongness inside him. Alec had been confused and scared, with no one to turn to, alone in the Institute’s tremendous walls. 

But their past was behind them, and the future ahead was shining. He could see the thread of it, extended through their lives, then onwards, and he felt endlessly possessive of it and what was to come. Alec was here because he wanted her to know the ways he loved and trusted her still, and that he’d forgiven her, if not the things she’d done. 

He stopped in front of the bookstore and stared at the sign for a second. The air tasted magical in front of it. Alec was so proud of his mother, and he couldn’t wait to see her smile when she saw him. He knew Maryse would, because she always did these days. Somewhere along the way, she’d become a constant. 

He stepped in, and the bell chimed above him. Maryse looked up, and her face brightened. She stood from her chair and swept him into a hug, arms tight and strong around him, her chin on his shoulder. He pressed his cheek to her head and breathed in deep, and felt the roaring inside him settle. 

Maryse pulled back and looked up at him. “Alec, I didn’t expect to see you today,” she said. “What brings you here?” 

There were so many things he could say to that, because it was her he was here for. She was family. He’d known what that meant in one way before, with Isabelle and Jace and Max, then the world had unfolded, and he’d found it in a thousand more: his Institute’s Shadowhunters, Magnus, Clary, Madzie, and now her. 

This kind Maryse, with warm hands and graceful heart, listened to him closely, like she wanted to see him and understand. She had shed her judgment and intolerance. Alec didn’t need to brace himself to find the words, or speak them. Maryse was going to be so excited. He couldn’t wait to share. 

“Actually, I was hoping you could help me find a few books. On parenting,” he said. Then, with a helpless smile. “Or, you know. Just you.” 

Alec was right. Maryse beamed at him and clutched him tight. She smelled like home: her perfume, the old dust of tomes and parchment, a quiet stream of magic, a grand place filled with love and history and mistakes and redemption. 

**Author's Note:**

> [tumblr](http://apartmented.tumblr.com)   
>  [twitter](http://twitter.com/inviq)   
>  [comms](https://apartmented.tumblr.com/commissions)
> 
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> new inklings update coming by end of may. also check out my prev fic all the king's men, via my profile. 
> 
> cheers


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